Northrop Grumman Corp. recently announced it has successfully conducted a major design review event for the next generation intercontinental ballistic missile program to replace the existing program at Minot Air Force Base and two other Air Force bases.

Ground Based Strategic Deterrent or GBSD is an entirely new system that will use existing silos in the Minot AFB, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, and Malmstrom AFB, Montana, missile fields.

The engineering and manufacturing development baseline review is an assessment of the current technical baseline, which includes user requirements, program data and configuration elements, and is the first step in transitioning ownership of the allocated baseline to the government, according to Northrop Grumman information. The three-day event was held virtually with more than 100 people in attendance throughout Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Air Force. The team is currently on schedule to meet the integrated baseline review which sets the program’s performance measurement baseline.

The EMD phase includes full system design, qualification, test and evaluation, and nuclear certification. Upon successful completion of EMD, the Northrop Grumman team will begin producing and delivering a modern and fully integrated ICBM system to meet the Air Force’s schedule of initial operational capability by 2029.

Leah Bryant, chief of Public Affairs and Legislative Liaison for Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, told The Minot Daily News earlier this year, “In September, the GBSD program office awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for the GBSD program’s Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase.

“Development activities are progressing and on track toward the EMD phase’s first major milestone, an Integrated Baseline Review, to be held in spring of this year,” Bryant said on Jan. 11.

“Achieving this milestone (engineering and manufacturing development baseline) demonstrates our team’s commitment to deliver a safe, secure and reliable system to the U.S. Air Force on-schedule and on-budget,” said Steve Lunny, vice president of Northrop Grumman’s GBSD program. “Our team is applying a digital engineering approach that will produce a modern strategic deterrent capability for our nation and its allies.”